Family Time

After a nice four-day visit with Drew's mom in Ohio, we journeyed on to St. Louis and have been here for a week. So far we've spent time with Drew's sister Kathy and her husband Dave, and their new puppy Coal. We've hooked up with Drew's oldest, Jami, and her husband and our granddaughter Adelaide. Plans to see our other kids and grandkids were postponed to next week due to conflicting schedules.

We discovered a wonderful new dogie park down the street from the RV park, so Buddy is a happy boy. He got his first grooming at PetSmart. It's been too cold to give him a bath outside, so we took him for a wash at PetSmart. He's now no longer a huntin' dog, he's a froo froo dog. Sorry, big guy.

Opryland Ogling

Wow. That's all I can say (except I have a Blog to fill). Nine acres under roof (mostly glassed domed ceilings) of indoor gardens, waterfalls, almost 2900 hotel rooms, an indoor boat ride covering 4.5 acres, and all decorated for Christmas. That's Gaylord's Opryland Resort. Copy and paste this link for more pictures. Once on the website, click slideshow. http://picasaweb.google.com/drewandlindamoore/OprylandResort#5267521639470918898

Gone Country

What are Friday and Saturday nights in Nashville without live country music? Across from the RV park on Friday night, locals come and perform on stage in the Millersville Bluegrass Jam at the community center. It's free, donations accepted. Whatever bands want to play just show up, sign in, and they're given a time slot. You could tell that this is not your typical tourist trap, as most of the room was filled with people from this small town. There was some impromptu clogging and two-stepping from the audience, as well as banter between the performers and locals in the audience they knew.

Contrasted to the small town Friday night venue, Saturday night was spent at THE Grand Ole Opry. We lucked into a star-studded evening that included Vince Gill, Randy Travis, youngsters Josh Turner ("Long Black Train") and Randy Houser ("Anything Goes"), as well as the debut of Kevin Costner & Modern West (fun to see, but keep your day job, Kev). It was fascinating to watch a live radio show format complete with live commercials. We found it much more informal and less staged. Over the two hours, there were twelve groups/individuals with each performing 2-4 songs. It was impressive to see the changeovers during the 60-second commercials. The stage crew swarmed in to set up microphones and swap out equipment. And the next performers had to be in place before they were introduced--after all, it's live radio! Our balcony seats afforded us a great view of all the goings-on at this sold out Opry performance in Ryman Auditorium.

Big Boys Toys

Bowling Green KY is so close to Nashville that we couldn't miss going on the GM factory tour to see Corvettes being made and to the Corvette museum. Drew has owned seven Corvettes over his 66 years and still has a love affair with them. The tour of the assembly plant was really interesting. While very automated, it was surprising to see how much is still done by hand. About 120 Corvettes roll off the line each day and 90% are pre-sold. Demand doesn't seem to have diminished for this classic American sports car. Part of the Corvette Museum has the cars displayed in period themes of their day. Another section is devoted to racing honors, another to design and engineering. The museum had a 1953 just like Drew's first Corvette, color and all. So today was about Drew reliving his youth!

Nashville Sights

We played typical tourist today and took a Gray Line tour of downtown Nashville. We went to the State Capitol, the Parthenon, and rode along Music Row where Studio B is (home of Elvis Presley). We browsed through the Country Music Hall of Fame and "sang" on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium (the "Mother Church of Country Music" and original location of the Grand Ole Opry). Although we had an hour at the museum, we could have spend all day looking at the costumes, cars, and displays that take you down memory lane from stars of the past to current performers. Our tour ended at Legends Corner, a familiar haunt of Opry performers, where we enjoyed a drink and live entertainment. Our driver, Sylvia, was a country music wannabe from the 60's who played us some of the cuts from her CD's and provided insights into the search for country music stardom.

Belle Meade

Today we toured Belle Meade, an historic Nashville plantation at the northern end of Natchez Trace, owned by the John Harding-William Jackson family and well-known as a horse stud farm in the early 1800's. At one time there were about 5400 acres and over 130 slaves working the property. Racing history was made in 1886 when their stallion Iroquois won the English Derby, a first for any American horse. A ticker-tape parade was held for him when he returned via New York. Many more recent Derby winners like Seabiscuit and Secretariat can trace their bloodlines to Belle Meade farms. The mansion is furnished with original family belongings and the huge carriage house contains numerous horse-drawn buggies used by them in that era.

Saying Goodbye

Tears of sadness, joy, gratitude, and a host of other emotions flowed as we said goodbye to everyone at Sweetwater KOA. Last night the owners, Chuck and Sandy, sat around the campfire with us. We reminisced over the funny and sad KOA happenings as well as world events, sharing our thoughts and opinions. Before we disbanded for the evening, Chuck said a prayer over us. We have come to love these two immeasurably in our short time here.

As we leave, a part of our heart remains. In two and a half months we have not only earned our Workamper badge, but gained so much more. We will miss the beautiful surroundings, our fellow Workampers, the kids who shared their time with us, getting to know some of the guests, and most of all the Tufts. But we take with us the most wonderful memories. God blessed us with an experience far more incredible than we could have hoped for.

Koncert and Kayride

Our last weekend here at Sweetwater KOA was quite a whirlwind. November usually marks the beginning of the slower off season, but this weekend the park was almost full and we had lots going on. Drew and I worked our last shifts on Friday and Saturday afternoon/evening but got off in time to catch the last hour of Tommy Santelli's live concert in the Pavilion. Tommy is a fabulous musician and singer who has performed with name groups such as Americas and the E-Street Band (Bruce Springsteen's early group). He has family in the area and spends time here at the KOA when in town. Fall here at the KOA means hayride time. Chuck, the owner, pulls the wagon and entertains with tall tales. We joked that the concert and hayride were our goodbye party!